Strohmeier scores late to give EHS win

Updated 10:19 pm, Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Edwardsville senior forward Caleb Strohmeier, front, goes up for a shot in traffic during the third quarter of Tuesday’s Southwestern Conference game against Collinsville.

Edwardsville senior forward Caleb Strohmeier, front, goes up for a shot in traffic during the third quarter of Tuesday’s Southwestern Conference game against Collinsville.

BOYS' BASKETBALL: Edwardsville holds on for victory

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COLLINSVILLE -- The Edwardsville Tigers attempted just two shots from the field in the fourth quarter.

That’s all they needed.

Caleb Strohmeier scored inside with 2.1 seconds left to cap a near six-minute possession and send the Tigers to a 48-46 win over Collinsville in Southwestern Conference action.

“This is huge. It’s a great win on the road,” said Strohmeier, who finished with 17 points.

Edwardsville improves to 14-8, including 7-4 in the SWC.

Collinsville drops to 15-11, including 3-8 in the SWC.

“Collinsville did a great job. They were hard to play against and hard to defend. They made a lot of perimeter shots, and they did a really good job of putting us in bad spots with the personnel,” Edwardsville coach Mike Waldo said. “For us to get a win on the road against a team that played so well is a good win.”

Ray’Sean Taylor’s pull-up jumper tied the game at 46-46 with 6:11 remaining, but that would end up being the final shot of the game for the Kahoks.

With Malik Robinson standing on his side of the timeline near center court, the Tigers held the ball for nearly four minutes with no pressure from Collinsville.

The Tigers called timeout with 2:23 to go and then ran their spread offense for the next two minutes.

With 15 seconds left, Jack Marinko took over and drove into the lane, drawing three Collinsville defenders. He found Strohmeier underneath the basket for an easy lay-in to make it 48-46 with 2.1 seconds left.

“It was a great play by Jack. His court vision is something else. It was a great pass and I’m happy I could finish it,” Strohmeier said. “We work on that play a lot. It was a great pass by Jack. I thought we did a good job executing that.”

Waldo added, “Jack made a good play at the end, and Caleb got it in the basket.”

Collinsville coach Darin Lee was disappointed with the finish.

“We tried to get it from them the last two or three minutes and we couldn’t get it from them,” Lee said. “I’m not sure why we let them drive down the middle. It doesn’t make sense.”

It meant a regular season sweep for the Tigers over the Kahoks, who are battling for seeding in the upcoming Class 4A postseason. Seeds will be announced Thursday.

“I thought we executed a lot of good things. Defensively, we did a good job of giving them what we wanted to give them. Offensively, we executed a lot of good things against a good defense,” Waldo said.

Edwardsville’s only other shot in the fourth came when Strohmeier scored inside to tie it 44-44 with 7:12 left.

Marinko also had two free throws in the fourth quarter.

Collinsville led Edwardsville 19-13 after the first quarter.

The Kahoks used an 11-2 run, helped by two of Bailey McGovern’s three treys in the first, to storm ahead after eight minutes.

“Bailey has been able to make open shots in practice. He just hasn’t been able to get into a rhythm in a game until tonight. He can shoot it,” Lee said.

Marinko, who didn’t attempt a shot in the first quarter, hit a 3-pointer and the free throw for a four-point play to bring EHS within 27-26 with 3:14 to go in the half.

Strohmeier tied it at 28-28, and the teams went into halftime tied 30-30.

Edwardsville was ahead 37-32 after consecutive baskets by Marinko midway through the third, but Collinsville picked up another 3-pointer from McGovern to lead 43-42 going into the fourth.